Morzsa

The event, organized by Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, aimed to present a recent study on cross-national analysis of attitudes towards migration “Looking behind the culture of fear”. The study, which is downloadable here, analyzes which variables and background factors influence attitudes towards migrants in Europe on the country level and on the individual level as well.

Bori Simonovits commented the results at a roundtable discussion that followed the presentation. She highlighted the difference between realistic threats (e.g. competition over material and economic group interests) and symbolic threats (e.g. perceived group differences in values, norms and beliefs). As she explained, symbolic threats are as dominant as realistic threats toward migrants in Hungary. Furthermore, she highlighted the most significant results of a recent qualitative study carried out in Hungary in 2017, focused on the attitudes towards migrants as well as various threats related to mass migration.